Electric switch.



E. A. HALBLEIB.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAILzo, 1913` @MUT/9195 Eatented NOI/.11, 1913.

Figlia Figi-I,

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

EDWARD A. HALBLEIB, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO NORTH EAST ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. -1 1, 1913.

T 0 all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWAR A. HALBLEIB, a citizen of the United States, and resident ofRochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Switches, of which the followingis a speci- /tication This invention relates to electric switches of the rotary type, and is particularly apf plicable to a switch such as is commonly designated as a kick-switch, and which is employed upon an automobilein a position in which it may be operated by the foot of the driver, for the purpose of temporarily closing an electric circuit in electrical ap paratus-connected with an internal-combustion engine.

One object of the invention is to produce a switch of simple and inexpensive construction, in which the electric contacts are made with certainty, and in which the parts are restored to normal position automatically when the switchis released by the user.

A second object of the invention is to produce a switch adapted particularly for use in electrical installations in which it is desirable toclose two circuits by a single operation of the switch but with a slightV time-interval between the closing of the two circuits.

To the foregoing ends the invention consists in the cnnstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, ,asl they are vdefined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying Idrawings z-Figure 1 is a front-elevation of a switch embody ing the present invention, with a portion of the cover broken away to show the interior mechanism; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line2-2 in Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-.3 inFig. 2.

l The invention is illustrated as embodied in a switch 0f which the general form is familiar, this switch having a substantially cylindrical casing 5 whichr is adapted to be seated in an openin dash of an atomobi e. Withinthe casing, at the rear thereof, is seated a circular base 6 of insulatingmaterial, which provides a sup-port for the fixed contacts of `the switch, and which also provides a rear bear- 'ing for the` shaft .by which theswitch is in the footboard or cover,12, which embraces the flange 11 and is perforated to permit the shaft toy project in front of the casing. On the forward end of the shaft is screwed an arm 13 by which the switch may be operated.

The middle part 14 of the shaft, is .Jqua re, or otherwise non-circular in section, vso that it may have sliding but non-rotative connection with the parts which are actuated by the shaft. One of these parts is a circular head 15 of insulating-material,"to which is riveted the. movable contact-incur ber of the switch.` This contact-member is in the forni of a spider having three equidfistant fingers 16. These fingers coperate with three fixed contacts, two of which, designated by the reference-number 17, are in the form of similar metal plates, seated 'in recesses in the base 6 so that their forward s irfacesare flush with the forward surface of the base. These plates are fixed in place by means `of binding-posts 18, which pass through openings in theX rear wall 'of the casing and serve also to secure the base against lmovement within the casing. i

The fixed contact-members 17 are symmetrically dis osed with relation to the ngers 16, but t e'third fixed contact-member lar to the contact-members 17, .is located at a greater angular distance from the corresponding','contactfinger, as shown in Fig. 3, for a dpui'pose which will pres'ently be describe he contact-member 25 is fixed in place by a binding-post 26, ,similar to the binding-posts 18. Y

In' addition to the head 15, the squared part 14 of ythe sha-ft passes through a metal shell 22, which` constitutes means for connecting the shaft with one end 21 of a coiled spring 19.- The other endvl of this spring is fixed, by means of a screw 20, to the crossbar9. The shell 22 is recessed, at its forward surface, toreceive the cross-bar 9 as shown in- Fig. l, and to provide two forwardly- -projecting stop-lugs 23, which' cooperate with the edges of the cross-bar. In the nor.-

mal position of the parts, as showniii the '90 25, which is otherwise substantially simi-` drawings, the spring 19 tends to hold the as shown in Fig. 1. When the switch is to be operated the arm 13 Iis swung, from its right-hand osition, to the left-hand position shown 1n dotted lines in Fig. 2, against -the resistance of the spring 19, and this clock-wise rotative movement is arrested, at the proper oint, by engagement of the stoplugs 23 wit the cross-bar 9 in the opposite position from that shown in Fig. 1.

In order that the contact-fingers 16 may all firmly engage the corresponding fixed contacts, the head 15 is mounted upon the shaft with sufficient looseness to permit the spider to rock slightly, if necessary, this operation bein insured by the three-point engafrement o the contact-fingers, under the iniIuence of a compression-spring 24 which is coiled around the part 14 of the shaft within the shell 22. One end of this spring presses against the shell, while the other presses constantly against the head 15, thus maintaining the contact-fingers firmly against the coperating parts.

In my co-pending application filed October 9, 1911, Serial No. 653,670, I have disclosed engine-starting apparatus embodying an electric motor-generator of a compoundwpund type, this device being thrown into operation' as a motor by means of an electric switch of which the contacts are so arranged that, by a continuous movement of the switch, a terminal ofthe motor-generator is connected with two circuit-conductors,

with a slight time-interval between the formation of the two connections. The present switch is adapted for use in this connection, or in any apparatus where a similar result is required, owing to the fact that the fixed contact 25 is located at a greater angular distance from the corresponding contact finger than are the fixed contacts 17. `Accordingly, when the switch is operated the contacts 17 are first connected together, and thereafter, by the continued movement of the switch, the third contact-finger is brought into engagement with the contact 25, thus connecting together all three of the fixed contacts and the conductors which may be attached to them.

The switch above described is one which may be inexpensively manufactured, and which is very easily assembled or taken a art. The head 15, the shell 22, and the siihft are all assembled by merely passing the shaft through the openings in the head of the shell, and when the cross-bar 9 has been screwed in place, the mechanism is securely locked in operative condition. Since the cover-plate is not employed as a bearingmember vto support the shaft, it may be removed without dismembering the mechaknism, and access to or inspection of the operative parts is thus afforded through the front of the casing while they are in their operative condition;

Although the shell 22 and the head 15 are loosely mounted on the shaft there is no possibility of the parts rattling or moving as the result of vibrations in the v-ehicle upon which the switch is employed, because the spring 24 acts constantly to press the shell against the cross-bar 9 and the fingers 16 against the parts with which they coperate, so that all lost-motion is constantly taken up and the parts are held firmly in frictional engagement.

My invention 1s not limited to the embodiment thereof hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but may be embodied in various other forms within the nature of the invention as it is defined in the following claims.

I claim 1. An electric-switch having, in combination, a casing provided, at the rear, with a plurality of fixed contact-members and intermediate insulating-material lying substantially in the same plane, a shaft normal to said plane and having front and rear bearing-portions and an intermediate noncircular portion, a cross-bar removably fixed near the front of the casing and providing a front-bearing for the shaft, two rotatable members perforated to fit the non-circular portion of the shaft, whereby they are caused to rotate with the shaft but are free to move longitudinally thereon, a compression-spring between said rotatable members tending to force them apart, one of the rotatable members being thus pressed against the cross-bar while the other is forced toward the fixed contact-members, contactfingers carried by the latter rotatable member and adapted to coperate with the fixed contact-members, a spring connected with the other of said rotatable members and tending normally to rotate the shaft in one direction, and manually-operable means for rotating the shaft in the opposite direction.

2. An electric-switch having, in combination, a casing provided with ront and rear bearings, one of Said bearings formed in a cross-bar removably fixed to the front of the casing, a shaft mounted in said bearings and having an intermediate non-circular portion, a rotatable member surrounding the shaft and having a non-circular opening corresponding to the non-circular portion thereo said member having forwardly-projecting stop-lugs adapted to cooperate with the cross-bar, contact-fingers actuated by the shaft, fixed contact-members, within the casin adapted to coperate with the contactngers, and a spring coiled about said rotatable member and fixed, at one end, to said member and, at the opposite end, to a fixed part of the switch, said spring tending to vrotate the shaft and the contact-ngers in one direction, and manually-operable means for rotating the shaft inthe opposite direction, said rotation being limited in both directions by the engagement of the stop-lugs with the cross-bar.

3. An electric-switch having, in combination, a rotary shaft, a movable contact-member carried by and rotatable with the shaft and comprisin three radiating contact-fingers electrical7 connected together,A and three `fixed contact-members adapted to cooperate With said fingers, respectively, when the shaft andthe movable contact-member are rotated, the fixed contact-members being 15 arranged at unequal angular distances from the corresponding contact-fingers, whereby the ngers, by a sin le continuousrotary movement of the sha t, act first to connect two of the fixed contact-members and then 20 to engage the third fixed contact-member and connect it with at least one 'of the first two fixed contact-members.:

EDWARDV HALBLEIB.

Witnesses:

FARNUM DonsEY, -D. GURNEE. 

